NEW REPORT: Dayton renters can’t afford apartments

Renters in the Dayton region on average earn too little to afford a decent two-bedroom apartment, according to a report released by affordable housing advocacy groups.

The average hourly wage earned by Dayton-area renters this year is $12.86, which is nearly $2 short of the wage need to afford the fair market rent of a two-bedroom apartment, according to a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio.

Workers who shoulder high housing cost burdens often have to make difficult decisions, with potentially serious consequences, about whether to pay rent or fund basic necessities like health care or child care, experts says.